Sparta golf society

Summer Meeting : Littlestone GC : 25 June 2010

Dream Start

Alan Rowland had a dream start in the afternoon round at the Summer Meeting held at Littlestone Golf Club. He recorded five net birdies in the first six holes but then either the course or the conditions got to him as those were the only points he earned on the front nine.

Another notable achievement was a net albatross by Paul Goff on par-3 6th in the morning round. Receiving two stokes he promptly put his tee shot eight feet from the pin and sunk the putt for a gross birdie.

The course was its normal immaculate self with superb greens and treacherous rough. The hot dry conditions made the going strenuous but in the main we were spared any serious wind.

The Competitions

The morning competition was for the Summer Cup and the two James' - Manning and Donaldson battled it out for the honours. Both scored a magnificent 38 points with Donaldson recording a gross 77 to Manning's 78. However, it was the latter who to the cup on count back.

Off 7/8ths handicap, members competed for the Cook Cup in the afternoon. Naturally scores were lower but for some the sapping heat was the cause. Anna Dougal, in a rare appearance at Society Meetings showed good form off a handicap of 16 to record 34 points. However, she was pipped to the post by first time winner, Ian Dibbens, who retuned with 35 points.

An aggregate of both rounds was taken to determine the winner of the Charity Competition for the Claret Jug. Here Anna showed her consistency on the day to pip James Donaldson to the prize with 70 points.

Longest drive and nearest the pin prizes were competed for during the afternoon too. For sometime Mike Arney sat in the clubhouse with his name on both markers. However, late in the day Phil Mills snatched the nearest the pin and Mike had to contend himself with just the longest drive.

Our generous Captain, Graham Hoy, also gave prizes for the best score on par-3's, morning, afternoon and overall. These went to Peter Mason (AM) and Ian Dibbens (PM and overall). Graham also had an eye on those who might benefit from advice on the short game and awarded Vince Rossiter a Tom Watson book on 'Getting Up and Down'. Vince scored just 9 points on par-3's all day.

Charity

As our Charity meeting, members were asked to record bunkers hit and balls lost during the day and donate for each. For this, the course played its part. Pete Frost was testament to the magnetic bunkers when his shot to the 17th landed on the green but then turned, rolled off the front and then circumnavigated the bunker before finding an impossible lie in the sand.

Many also recalled how hungry the rough was for any ball it encountered. Nevertheless, it all added to the pot and together with entry fees for the Claret Jug competition, around £300 was raised to be added to the £500+ raised at the Charity Day in March. Again our members have shown just how generous they can be.

All in all everyone agreed it was a superb day. It was nice to see some new faces too and some old members who who have been unable attend meetings regularly.

Links

For a full round up of who won what see the Results page. The Statistics page has also been updated and pics are in the photo gallery. The latest Golfer of the Year table has also been updated.